Forrest L Norvell wrote:

>I would suggest that it's neither; there aren't many rewards for working
>at chain stores, and while the employees don't get paid minimum wage,
>they don't get paid a living wage either.  As such, you generally get
>whatever expertise they have and not a whole lot of enthusiasm for going
>above and beyond the call of duty.  At the Tower in San Francisco, they're
>well-informed about rock, jazz and underground musics of various kinds,
>less so about classical.  The clerks aren't rude so much as disinterested;
>they're simply not paid well enough to care about things outside their
>orbit, and I don't blame them.

And then, here is Austin Texas...a tale of Russell...who managed the
classical section of our Wherehouse, until it closed, and then moved
to Tower, and it closed about 8 months later...who now works at a Barnes
and Noble.  I have never encountered a more helpful, well informed person
in a record store.

>I do the bulk of my shopping at independent record stores -- one of
>which, Amoeba, is the largest record store I've been in outside of Japan,
>and has a fantastically broad selection.

Which leads me to...with some of the changes going on in my assignment
at the University I am thinking of going into business with Russell and
having our own store.  I guess I don't wonder if a classical only  (with
Jazz, Music Theater, and Film Scores) could make any money.

>That said, the selection is still much better online at Archiv, and there
>are better deals to be had at Berkshire.

And then there is Berkshire...what wonderful bargains.

Karl